Crime Essay, Research Paper

Aspects of City Life – Crime.

Different angles can be taken with regards to crime in the city, and

further to this, the main topic can be broken down into smaller areas. I have

conducted two types of research;

Primary – Interviews etc. Secondary – Named Sources.

The question of crime and how it affects a city is perhaps best put to

those people that have either lived in a city all their lives (thus knowing what

the crime is like in the area), or to those that have moved to a city from a

town or village (therefore being able to make a comparison between the types of

crime and their severity in the two habitats).

A city, apart from having a great deal more shops, civic and

recreational amenities, and night life will also have many more people – people

that need somewhere to live, meaning vast expanses of housing estates and other

residential areas. In Sunderland’s case all of the above are true, and, as with

many other cities across the country it has a very large student population.

There are two centres of higher education in Sunderland – the university, and

the college, both with large subscriptions. Although both have been established

for a while now, it was only fairly recently that the old Polytechnic achieved

university status. This has not only increased the size of the university in

terms of property but also the number of students attending it. This therefore

means that the overall size of Sunderland has increased, including the numbers

of shops, clubs, recreational activities and also houses.

A great deal of people in Sunderland believe that their local pubs and

clubs have been ‘taken over’ by students and at first there was a great deal of

apprehension and tension between locals and students, often resulting in violent

conflict. This still exists but to a much smaller extent. However, something

that can be connected with this is the mugging and burglary that happens to a

small minority of students. Obviously crime occurs everywhere, no matter where

you live, but students are seen as easy targets due to their vulnerability, as

well as the fact that they have money and valuable possessions. The severity of

some of the attacks has been such that victims have needed extensive hospital

treatment due to the injuries they have sustained. Security measures at certain

halls of residence have been questioned after several attacks occurred in

usually safe surroundings.

The most startling aspect of violent crime in this area is that it still

occurs, despite increased policing and advice to students regarding how to

prevent it. Certain districts are particularly dangerous and carry high levels

of crime, but the problem can often be pin-pointed to individuals, stealing out

of desperation for a variety of reasons. This leads me to the main point of my

chosen topic.

The focus of my research will be upon crime against students, mainly

because I can use primary evidence (several of my friends have been mugged) and

in a presentation, be it audio, visual or both, it would, in my opinion, be more

shocking and at the same time carry a preventative message. I have certain

people in mind to interview that have been victims of crime that will help the

presentation carry impact. The views of the general public would also be

valuable to my research and so I plan to carry out an independent survey to

discover the views of local people. By doing this it will mean that I am not

taking one side or the other (students or local residents) but an unbiased view

upon crime in the local area, the reasons it occurs, and aggravating situations.

It will be up to the audience to decide whether or not students are unfairly

discriminated against, or whether locals rightly take the law into their own

hands.